Budget 2023-2024 and the Social Relief of Distress Grant

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) warns that National Treasury is undermining the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant through restrictive regulations and underfunding. Despite the President's commitment to a permanent basic income floor, the IEJ notes that the grant's value remains frozen at R350, failing to account for inflation and falling short of the Food Poverty Line (FPL) of R663. The document highlights a significant drop in approved applications—from 10.9 million in March 2022 to 7.5 million in January 2023—which the IEJ attributes to an excessively low means test of R624 and an onerous application process. The IEJ demands that the grant be increased to the FPL and that exclusionary provisions be revoked to protect the constitutional rights of the approximately 18.3 million people living in extreme poverty in South Africa.

• The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant value has remained frozen at R350 since 2020, resulting in a projected 20% real-term decrease by 2024 and violating the President's commitment to adjust grants for inflation.
• Restrictive regulations and a low means test of R624 have led to a sharp decline in grant approvals, falling from 10.9 million in March 2022 to approximately 7.5 million in January 2023.
• There is a significant gap between the current grant amount and the identified needs of the population, with the IEJ recommending an increase to the Food Poverty Line (FPL) of R663 for the estimated 18.3 million people living in extreme poverty.
• Administrative failures have resulted in approximately 1.3 million approved beneficiaries failing to receive their payments monthly over a three-month period.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2023). Budget 2023-2024 and the Social Relief of Distress Grant. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-2024-and-the-social-relief-of-distress-grant/

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Budget 2023-2024 and the Social Relief of Distress Grant. 2023. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-2024-and-the-social-relief-of-distress-grant/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Budget 2023-2024 and the Social Relief of Distress Grant |date=20 February 2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-2024-and-the-social-relief-of-distress-grant/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2023budget, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Budget 2023-2024 and the Social Relief of Distress Grant}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/budget-2023-2024-and-the-social-relief-of-distress-grant/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }